A seaman who was injured while conducting commercial diving operations in the Gulf of Mexico has filed a lawsuit against his employer for failing to provide proper tools to accomplish the tasks he was assigned.

According to the lawsuit, on Aug. 18, 2009, Peterson was conducting a dive from the DB Southern Hercules when his right arm became entrapped in a subsurface structure while he was assisting with topside's removal of component parts of the structure. Peterson states he suffered severe and disabling injuries to his right arm.

The defendant is accused of negligence for failing to properly equip, main, provision, maintain and operate the DB Southern Hercules and its appurtenances and equipment, failing to properly select and implement an overall plan to complete the tasks at hand in a safe and non-hazardous manner, failing to provide a safe and non-hazardous workplace and failing to provide proper and sufficient tools and manpower to complete the tasks at hand.